


Trip to Town

by olliolli_oxenfree



Category: Dragon Age (Video Games), Dragon Age - All Media Types, Dragon Age II
Genre: Chantry bullshit is that a tag, Fluff, Other, attempt at fluff, i can't even write family fun times without the chantry ruining that too
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-05-04
Updated: 2017-05-04
Packaged: 2018-10-27 21:33:48
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,123
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10817184
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/olliolli_oxenfree/pseuds/olliolli_oxenfree
Summary: For the second day of Carver Hawke Week: Family.A trip to Lothering goes somewhat awry when his sister almost uses magic.





	Trip to Town

**Author's Note:**

> I didn't know there was a Carver Hawke week. Why was this allowed? Can't say if I'll do the rest, or even if I'll bother doing them in order at this point, but I was able to sit down and crank something out. Turned out to fit Day Two's prompt so here we are.

“Put that away.”

“What?”

Carver’s face twists despite his attempt to keep it neutral. “The _snow_.”

Maria rolls her eyes, moves her hands and her ice spell closer to her throat. “It’s _hot_.”

“Put it away, Maria.”

Father’s voice is not raised, but it is sharp. Even though it is meant for his sister, Carver can’t help the small jump while Maria’s spell disappears as if it never was. Father sighs. “We’re too close to town. You know better.”

“Yes, _ser_.” Maria kicks a stone down the path and misses the look Father shoots over his shoulder. _Ser_ is reserved for the templars of the Chantry. Or Father, when one of the three siblings are in a mood. Maria is, more often than not, in a mood.

Lothering is bustling, even at the hottest part of the day. Laundry is straightened on clothes lines while children too young to work on the farms run underfoot chasing chickens with their dogs. The Chanter is speaking of when Andraste was chosen by the Maker.

“Trembling, I called out: ‘Forgive me, Most High, I should sing your Name to the heights of heaven, But I know it not and must be silent.’ The Wellspring of All said—”

“Keep an eye on each other while I get your sister’s medicine.” Something in their father’s eyes changes when he walks into the Chantry.

Carver knows the trip in and back from town is faster with only one, but he also knows Mother declared both he and Maria too energetic for a sick Bethany and sent them with their father. He suspects it was for Mother’s peace and quiet rather than Bethany’s. They were only making her _laugh_.

“Good afternoon, Little Hawkes!” One of the Chantry Mothers swoops down almost as soon as their father vanishes. “Is poor Bethany still ill?”

Maria returns her smile with a stone-cold, “Obviously.”

“Otherwise we wouldn’t be getting her medicine.”

The Mother’s smile slips, as most adults’ do when confronted with their demeanor. It’s not as strong when she puts it back on. “I hope she gets better soon. At least it’s merely a summer cold and nothing worse.”

Mother had said much the same when she bustled Father from the house that morning. _“Will you stop fretting? She’s not_ dying _, Malcolm! Go into town for more if you’re so worried! And take these terrors with you!”_ The last was said with a hand pushing Carver and Maria forward.

Maria’s expression doesn’t change. “Pity we can’t magic it away.”

Before the Mother can decide if it’s a joke Carver grabs his sister’s hand and drags her away. She’s taller, and heavier, but he manages. He suspects part of his father’s worry stems from the fact Bethany is the only one in the family capable of healing magic.

 _“I’ve seen you do it when you were still part of the Circle,”_ Mother had once objected when Carver took too steep a tumble and broke his leg.

_“You’re mistaken.”_

“She doesn’t know I’m being serious.” Maria’s six years older but she pouts like she’s the youngest.

“She will if you keep it up.”

He lets go of her hand and approaches the well outside the Chantry. There’s a discarded rag on the lip, and he dunks it into the half-filled bucket. The water inside is on the warm side of tepid. He wrings it out and approaches Maria. “It’s cool.” A blink switches her expression from confusion to gratitude. Then he tosses it on her hair.

“ _Ew_! Carver!”

“ _Maria_!”

Carver sees the danger a half-second before their father’s shout reaches them. Energy sparking at Maria’s fingertips, danger forgotten in the heat of the moment, and the templar stationed at the Chantry turning their head at the commotion. He panics. He tackles Maria to the ground. It works, in that she’s too focused on pushing him off and over to get the upper hand that she’s no longer using magic.

“ _What_ ,” Father grabs Maria’s shoulder, “ _are the two of you_ ,” Carver is next as he gets pulled to a sitting position, “ _doing_?”

The templar laughs. Carver’s heart freezes. “Don’t be angry with them, Hawke. It’s good they’re still so energetic in this heat!” His heart thaws, just the tiniest bit, when the three stand and Father pulls them both close.

“As you say, ser.” Carver reaches up to cling to Father’s shirt at the strain in his voice.

Maria remains subdued for the walk home. It was a gamble if she would drop her spell when Carver brought her down. She uses magic to cheat at wrestling. When their own hanging laundry comes into view she speaks.

“I’m sorry.” Father doesn’t answer. “I didn’t mean to.”

Carver swallows and prepares to take the brunt of Father’s anger. “It was my fault.”

“Carver can’t even _do_ magic!”

 _That_ draws Father’s attention. He turns, and Carver’s anger at her statement is shooed away when Maria stands in front of him. It’s the same stance she uses when getting between a templar and Bethany.

Father closes his eyes. “You both know the dangers. We can run as much as we like.” His eyes are on Maria when he opens them. “One mistake means we lose you and Bethany to the Circle.”

“And you,” Carver demands.

A look similar to the one when he visits the Chantry enters Father’s eyes. “Not me.”

Carver crosses his arms and attempts one of Maria’s infamous frowns. “What _else_ happens when the Chantry finds a mage?”

Instead of answering, Father turns around. “No lesson tonight, Maria.”

“Why?”

“Not tonight.”

Bethany’s cold is mostly down to the occasional sniffle. She’s also indignant about Father’s sudden announcement, insistent that she’s feeling well enough. No matter how they plead, Father refuses their lesson.

“When you’re feeling better,” he answers after Bethany’s twelfth request.

“I _am_ better!”

“No you aren’t.”

Usually Carver will be asked to start the fire. He can do it on his own, and when he was younger would receive rare praise from Father when he did. Tonight Father waves his hand and flames lick their way up the logs. He stares at them long after Carver and his sisters have been sent to bed. Carver watches from their shared mattress as shadows flick over Father’s dark face. His eyes snap shut when Father stands unexpectedly. Instead of hearing the latch of the door to Mother and Father’s room, he feels Father’s presence standing over him. Before he can decide if he should admit to being up late there’s a rustle overhead as Father leans over and speaks.

“Go to sleep, Little Hawke.”

Carver jumps at Maria’s _hrmph_ , unaware she had been awake. There’s another rustle, and Father’s hand ruffles his hair. “You too, son.”

**Author's Note:**

> Would appreciate some feedback on Malcolm, as far as feedback can be given for a character who _maybe_ has 5% of content in-game and only that much because of a DLC. Maria grows into a Red Hawke, and I'm interested in seeing if you lovely readers think I did a decent job in showing that it was more-or-less inherited from him.


End file.
